25 September 2008

this is why geneology is indeed for people of "a certain age":

every once in a while in the true church we get lessons on genealogy. how cool it is, how it's not an activity exclusively for senior citizens, how joni mae's cousin's aunt immersed herself in her CHARTS at age 22 and it saved her from a miserable existence because of X, Y, and Z, and i appreciate that. i really do. but the truth is, it remains a hobby that is, in large part, taken up by people of a certain age, because sooner or later, we dig deep enough to hit this "breed" of info:

"Clan Cameron has a proud and romantic history and is especially noted for its unwavering loyalty to the Stewart kings. The clan's war-cry, which translated is `Sons Of The Hounds, Come Hither And Get Flesh', is one of the most ferocious and has the double significance that they will feed their enemies' flesh to their hounds and also summon the clansmen (the hounds) to come and kill. It is not surprising that General Wolfe, giving an account of the Battle of Culloden, states that the Camerons were "the bravest clan among them ". There are a number of theories as to the origins of the clan, whose first authenticated chief (but styled XI) is Donald Dubh (c1400-1460), whose name is the patronymic of Lochiel - MacDomhnuill Dubh (son of dark- haired Donald)."

don't worry folks, that's just the beginning! and since the vikings' blood has infiltrated about 70% of the earth's population, i'm going to hedge a bet your predecessors weren't much prettier.

only those sufficiently seasoned in life, only people who've rehabilitated their pot-smoking child, seen their bank account balances plummet to $0 approximately 15 million times, taught a respectable eyeliner application process to their cranky teenage girls, lectured endlessly on cleaning up legos, changed 39 billion blow out diapers, broken 330 plates, and spilled 42 gallons of milk can discover those unpretty details about their lineage and go back, hungry for more.

well, not that this should put a kink in sarah's and harry's relationship, but the reynolds and the eatons all come from the isle of mann, so these are YOUR peeps too, so may your schedule open up soon and you can delve into the world of donald dubh, son of the dark haired donald.